Physician sites: Webmaster, MD

More doctors are deciding to build their own Web pages. The good news is, you don't have to be a programmer to put together your own page.

By Tyler Chin, amednews staff. April 24, 2000.

For years, parents asked Michael Rothschild, MD, the same questions about their child's ear, nose and throat problems.

One day the light went on. In 1998, the otolaryngologist built his own Web site (http://www.kids-ent.com/). He posted answers to parents' most frequently asked questions about pediatric ear infections, nighttime breathing problems, throat infections, sinus infections and other problems.

Additional information

"In my particular practice, I find myself going over the same disease and treatment information over and over again," said Dr. Rothschild, director of the Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. "The Web site seemed a good way to reach patients" and save everyone some time.

Physicians increasingly are coming to the conclusion that having a Web site is necessary. About 27% of physicians have their own site, up from 17% in 1997, according to an AMA study.

Warnings are coming from everywhere about the expected doom that will befall any practice that doesn't put up a site, or at least offer an e-mail address.

But how do you get a site?

These days it's easier than you may think to build your own site, even if you don't have computer programming experience. And there are plenty of inexpensive options available to help.

Current Web site authoring software does not require doctors to learn hypertext markup language, a programming language that tells browsers how to display text and other information. Thomas N. Levin, MD, an Oak Lawn, Ill., cardiologist who built his own Web site, said all physicians really need to do is buy the software and spend a day learning to use it. However, Dr. Levin, who has computer experience, spends eight to 10 hours a week working on his site (http://www.westsubcardiology.com/) and updating information and an additional hour responding to e-mail.

Drs. Levin and Rothschild advise physicians lacking computer skills, time or interest in building their own sites to turn to a Web design firm, which they estimate could cost anywhere from $2,000 to $25,000.

There are less expensive options, they said. One would be to pay $50 an hour to a high school or college student to design a site. "All you need to do is find out what you want to put in your site, tell them, find an Internet service provider [to host the site] and register your domain name," Dr. Levin said. His practice pays $300 a year to an ISP to host its site. Dr. Rothschild pays even less -- $10 a month or $120 a year.

Another low-cost option would be to take advantage of one of the many offers from Internet health care companies that build and host sites and provide content, either at no cost to doctors or for a monthly fee.

The return on any Web investment could come from increased referrals, a larger patient load or simply better-informed patients. "I wanted to help patients understand common issues in pediatric ENT," said Dr. Rothschild, who has signed a contract with the AMA to write a book about site designing.

He made it easy for patients and nonpatients to find his site by registering it with Internet search engines. He also included a mechanism that lets visitors e-mail questions from the site.

Dr. Rothschild emphasizes that he is careful not to give medical advice online, adding that he posts disclaimers that e-mail is not intended to create a physician-patient relationship. When people ask complex medical questions, he suggests they see their doctors.

Dr. Levin said his colleagues at West Suburban Cardiologists, an 18-physician cardiology practice in several locations in suburban Chicago, asked him to build the site because they knew he had built a site for the cardiology department at the University of Chicago, where he had worked before joining the practice last summer.

"The site gives us the opportunity to showcase who we are, where we practice, what services we provide and also allows us to post interesting case studies [for medical residents and other physicians] and offer information to the public," Dr. Levin said.

Educating patients was a major reason why the practice implemented its site, which offers links to several medical journals and medical societies.

"Many patients are going to the Internet as their first source of information," Dr. Levin said.

"Ideally, I want to be their first source of information so that when they see their doctor they will have the right questions, and some of the answers, already."